The Electric Horseman

Overview

"A cowboy-turned-huckster unexpectedly finds love as he tries to regain his self-respect in this romantic comedy drama. Sonny Steele (Robert Redford) is a one-time rodeo star whose career as a cowboy has ground to a halt. He makes a good living as a spokesman for Ranch Breakfast, a sugar-coated cereal for kids, but he's lost most of his self-respect in the process; his boss, corporate mogul Hunt Sears (John Saxon), considers him a property rather than a human being, and Sonny has developed a serious problem with alcohol. Sears' cereal company is negotiating a highly profitable merger with another firm and brings Sonny to Las Vegas for a publicity stunt, in which Sonny, wearing a garish cowboy outfit complete with blinking lights, will ride on-stage at Caesar's Palace aboard prize-winning thoroughbred stallion Rising Star. When Sonny discovers Sears' men have drugged the horse so that it will be able to walk on an injured leg, he's appalled, and he rides Rising Star off the stage at Caesar's and into the Nevada desert, looking for grazing land where he and the horse can heal their wounds. Sears is shocked to discover that Sonny has run off with a 12 million dollars, and he realizes that Sonny knows enough to make his firm look very bad in the press, potentially scotching the merger. Sears files charges against Sonny and posts a reward for Rising Star's safe return, though he implies that it wouldn't bother him if Sonny died in the rescue attempt. Hallie Martin (Jane Fonda), a television journalist covering Sonny's Vegas appearance, is convinced that something is fishy and manages to catch up with him in the desert; as Hallie tries to get Sonny to tell her his story, the has-been cowboy and the city-girl reporter fall in love. The Electric Horseman also stars Valerie Perrine and Willie Nelson; the country & western star made his screen debut in this film and has a very memorable line about tequila and trailer hitches. This disc presents the film in its orignal theatrical aspect ratio."

Product Details

Release Date:	05/06/2003
UPC:	0025192274824
Original Release:	1979
Rating:	PG
Source:	UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:01:00

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robert Redford	Sonny Steele
Jane Fonda	Hallie Martin
Valerie Perrine	Charlotta
Willie Nelson	Wendell
Wilford Brimley	Farmer
John Saxon	Hunt Sears
Nicolas Coster	Fitzgerald
Allan Arbus	Danny Miles
Will Hare	Gus Atwater
Basil Hoffman	Toland
Timothy Scott	Leroy
James Kline	Tommy
Frank Speiser	Bernie
Quinn Redeker	Bud Broderick,Bud Broderick
Lois Areno	Joanna Camden
Sarah Harris	Lucinda
Tasha Zemrus	Louise
James Novak	Dennis
Debra Maxwell	Convention Hostess
Michele Heyden	Sonny Angel
Robin Timm	Model Narrator
Patricia Blair	Fashion Narrator
Gary M. Fox	Bell Man
Richard Perlmutter	Desk Clerk
Carol Eileen Montgomery	Carol
Theresa Ann Dent	Ranch Breakfast Model
Perry Sheehan Adiar	Mrs. George Phillips
Sarge Allen	Mr. Phillips
Sylvie Strauss	Matron
Richard Knoll	Dealer
Angelo Giouzelis	Maitre 'D
Mark Jamison	Major Domo
Brendan Kelly	Grocer,Sheriff
Shelia B. Wakely	Store Clerk
Gary Shermaine	Trucker
Gary Liddiard	Townsman
Jerry Kurland	AMPCO Person
J. Carlton Adair	AMPCO Person
Charles J. Monahan	AMPCO Person
George W. Etter	AMPCO Person
Raymond G. Maupin	AMPCO Person
Bob C. Barrett	AMPCO Person
Red McIlvaine	Reporter
Frank Nicholas	Reporter
Johnny Magnus	Reporter
Vic Vallaro	Reporter
Bob Bailey	Reporter
Roger Lowe	Reporter
James B. Sikking	Actor
Lois Hamilton	Joanna
Debra L. Maxwell	Actor
Gary D. Liddiard	Actor
Vic Vallard	Actor
Sydney Pollack	Man Who Makes a Pass at Alice
Dave Grusin	Composer

Technical Credits

Robert Garland

Paul Gaer

Sydney Pollack	Director
Augie Lohman	Special Effects
Jennifer Shull	Casting
Ray Stark	Producer
Al Overton	Sound/Sound Designer
Arthur Piantadosi	Sound/Sound Designer
Les Fresholtz	Sound/Sound Designer
Michael Minkler	Sound/Sound Designer
Robert Garland	Screenwriter
Paul Gaer	Screenwriter
Raymond Stark	Producer
Gordon Davidson	Sound Editor

Editorial Reviews

A little over a decade after Jane Fonda and Robert Redford teamed up for the 1967 screen version of Barefoot in the Park, producer Ray Stark and director Sydney Pollack reunited the pair for this glossy romantic comedy. It's a slick studio product if ever there were one, with the most random and manufactured of conceits built around the two screen icons (Redford as a cowboy who sells breakfast cereal?!), and therefore an easy picture to be cynical about; the trailer screams the names of Redford and Fonda about thirty times, as if underscoring the superficiality of the packaging behind the enterprise. Fortunately, the movie rises above its synthetic origins. It soars on the strength of the ineffable chemistry between the two leads, who - it should be remembered - were arguably the biggest male and female stars in the country back in 1979, and spend the better part of two hours reminding us why. And if the formula is well-trod - screwball dialogue and situations within a modern setting - the screenplay (credited to Robert Garland, though Pollack heavily rewrote it during production) is also consistently witty and amusing enough (with a few really big laughs) to succeed. The movie benefits as well from its breathtaking rocky vistas and the neat transposition of western tropes and a "cowboy" lead into a contemporary, late '70s framework. (It's vastly superior to Fonda's awful revisionist western from the prior year, Comes a Horseman). Electric doesn't do anything to reinvent the medium, and there is nothing revelatory here, but it's still a highly enjoyable lightfooted yarn. The film's only two real flaws are a slightly excessive length, and a mercifully brief sequence that involves a lame Dukes of Hazzard-like police chase with a lot of car crashes and stunts. Other than that, it's a winner. Movie buffs should listen carefully for Pollack, whose voice can be heard twice in the film, during a phone call and subsequent radio announcement.